Q&A: Severe Birth Defects Soar in Post-War Iraq
Q&A: Severe Birth Defects Soar in Post-War Iraq
The hardest hit appear to be Fallujah (2004), a city in central Iraq, and Basra in the south (December 1998, March and April 2003).
Records show that the total number of birth defects observed by medical staff at Al Basrah Maternity Hospital more than doubled between 2003 and 2009. In Fallujah, between 2007 and 2010, more than half the children born there had some form of birth defect, compared to less than two percent in 2000.
Mozhgan Savabieasfahani, a lead author of the latest study published in the Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, entitled “Metal Contamination and the Epidemic of Congenital Birth Defects in Iraqi Cities,” reports that in the case study of 56 Fallujah families, metal analysis of hair samples indicated contamination with two well-known neurotoxic metals: lead and mercury.
IPS correspondent Julia Kallas spoke with Savabieasfahani about Iraq’s health crisis and the long-term consequences of exposure to metals released by bombs and munitions.
Excerpts from the interview follow.
http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/10/qa-severe-birth-defects-soar-in-post-war-iraq/
You know what I want to tell the people of Iraq? Get a job, then buy your own insurance, and pay your medical bills....well, I would if I were a conservative christian republican. I am guessing that many will help out in this (see below for am aid web site) but shouldn't we be doing more (we meaning, we the people/US)?
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Q: Are you aware of any formal reaction to your research by the Iraqi, U.S. or UK governments?
A: There has been some. The U.S. Defense Department responded to the report by saying that they do not know of any official reports that indicate any problems in Al Basrah or Fallujah. But I think that is the only thing that comes to my mind.
Medical and Humanitarian Aid
In 2005, AmeriCares increased the regularity of shipments to Iraq. We now regularly send medical assistance and other aid help with health and social services for Iraqi civilians, particularly some of the 2.2 million internally displaced persons and 750,000 people handicapped during three different wars.
LIFE operates two clinics, in Diala and Basra, where a staff of mostly volunteer doctors see roughly 400 patients a day. AmeriCares helps make these critical health services possible with the support of donated medicines and supplies. In addition, LIFE and AmeriCares work with the Ministry of Health to identify and distribute assistance to eight hospitals with chronic shortages of stock. Orphanages and camps for internally displaced persons receive hygiene products, blankets and other family care items. In 2007 AmeriCares delivered a special shipment of 280 wheelchairs to Iraq in collaboration with the Wheelchair Foundation.
The logistics of providing aid to Iraqi civilians is complex, with each shipment taking two months to reach Baghdad. AmeriCares and LIFE navigate the challenging security environment by maintaining a highly flexible and adaptive approach to routes and prudence in coordinating each delivery.
We are constantly reminded of the difficult circumstances of working in Iraq. The volatile situation, along with the loss of key personnel, has forced LIFE to close three of its clinics.
http://www.americares.org/wherewework/middle-east/iraq.html
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